Four persons, including an eight year-old boy, were killed and three others injured in rain-related incidents, as Mumbaikars and the people in the neighbouring Thane district bore the brunt of monsoon that arrived with a bang inundating low-lying areas and disrupting road, rail and air traffic in the metropolis and suburbs.
Of the killed, three persons — Rajendra Yadav (60), Sanjay Yadav (24) and Kashima Yudiyar (60) were electrocuted in Mumbai, while a boy identified as Mahender Badga (8) from Teranpada village near Vikramgad in Thane district died after he was struck by lightning.
In all, there were nine incident short-circuits across the metropolis till the evening. Four members of a family including a minor girl suffered electrocution at Goregaon in north Mumbai, after they came in contact live wires in the vicinity of their home. Of them, two died while they were treated at a local hospital, two others are undergoing treatment at the same hospital.
Three persons were injured, when a wall collapsed at Dadar (East) in north-central Mumbai. The injured were admitted to KMC Hospital. A female school student and her mother fell into a swollen gutter at Thane. However, some alert citizens rescued the mother and daughter from being swept away in the flood waters.
The monsoon — which arrived in the metropolis and neighbouring areas 20 days behind the schedule — made its presence felt, as heavy rains lashed incessantly since the small hours of Friday.
Mumbai received 53 mm of rains between 8 am and 1 pm, while the eastern and western suburbs recorded 92 mm and 77 mm rainfall respectively.
Several low-lying areas of Dadar, Sion, Andheri (East and West), Bhandup, Kurla (west), Mazgaon, Sewree, Chembur, Khar, Kanjurmarg, Tardeo, Barve Nagar, Ghatkopkar (west), and places like Milan and Andheri subways, Andheri metro station, Bhandup village road and Nalasopara lay under thick sheets of water.
The lifelines of the city — the Central Railway, Western Railway main and harbour line, Eastern and Western Express highways – were affected due to intense water-logging at several places.
Owing to inundation of railway tracks at several places, suburban trains on both the CR and WR ran 15 to 45 minutes behind the schedule, throwing haywire the schedules of the millions of office goers.
Lakhs of vehicles crawled on roads across the metropolis due to huge traffic snarls triggered by inundation. Andheri and Milan subways remained shut because of flooding. Some vehicles were stranded inside. Traffic congestion was reported from both Eastern and Western Express Highways.
Tree falls were reported from at least half a dozen places in the city. The BMC-run BEST buses run on route nos 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 21 were diverted through Hindmata Bridge due to water-logging at Hindmata cinema in Dadar, while Sewree-bound were diverted through Sharda talkies. Similarly, buses with route nos 25, 22, 302, 305 and 213 were diverted through main road due to water-logging at Sion road no 24.
There were 15 to 20 minutes in the arrivals and departures of flights at the city airports because of the poor visibility. However, flight operations remained largely unaffected
Meanwhile, Regional Meteorological Centre, Mumbai, has forecast heavy to very heavy rains in the city and heavy rains at isolated places in the suburbs for the next 24 hours.
Skymet Weather has predicted heavy rains in Maharashtra in the next 24 hours. “Heavy to very heavy rains are likely along the Maharashtra Coast including Mumbai, Thane, Ratnagiri and adjoining areas in the next 24 to 36 hours,” a Skymet Weather forecast said.
Mumnaikars heaved a sigh of relief as the temperatures came down to a comfortable minimum of 24 degree C and a bearable maximum of 30 degree C since the morning.